Klashwhensober, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2023
Klashwhensober is a force of nature, and his painting is his ‘rock’ in a turbulent environment. Over the last couple of years his work has been leaning towards quantity rather than quality (painting is what makes him happy), but recently I have noticed that that balance has shifted and he is starting to turn out some outstanding pieces, but fewer of them.
Klashwhensober, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2023
This is a wonderful and colourful piece at the farm end of the tunnel, spelling out SOBER. The letters each have an individual colour, with quite a lot of blended fills going on. The drop shadow is tidily done and lifts the letters from the wall a little. at the right hand end Klashwhensober has painted a sword, which is cutting into the letters. It looks like Klashwhensober has spent a little bit more time on this piece and has finished it off with care and attention. I like this more focussed approach from Bristol’s most prolific artist.
Desi, Peggy and Evey, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, October 2023
I don’t know how old this lovely triptych by RBF bedfellows Desi, Peggy and Evey is, but I think it slightly predates the much larger RBF Halloween collaboration just to the left. A rather pleasant appetiser to its immediate neighbour. Desi has adopted her joined up writing for this piece which is neatly and tidily presented.
Desi, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, October 2023
Desi leads off on the left with another Veil piece using the light blue and yellow colour palette adopted for the collaboration. I have to say that I don’t think the colour combination is an especially good one, looking a little anaemic against the autumn leaf litter in front of it. Desi has some nice horizontal fills and subtle dot details and the 3D drop shadow helps it to pop out from the wall.
Peggy, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, October 2023
Peggy has made an oblique reference to the colour scheme with the incorporation of a yellow colour in some of her details. The floral display, complete with an eye at the centre of the flower is exactly what you’d expect from Peggy, containing some nice detail in the levels and petals. I don’t know what the letters AIZH stand for, but you can make them out at the base of the piece. Peggy’s work lends itself very well to being the decorative filling between two pieces of graffiti writing.
Evey, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, October 2023
To the right, the effervescent Evey has knocked it out of the park once again. Her letters are nicely thought out and she has reflected the horizontal fill regime in Desi’s work on the other side, and has come up with some decorations in the letters that make them feel substantial without being too busy. More great work from these three who appear to enjoy painting together.
A graffiti writer and artist who regularly pops up on Natural Adventures, Pl8ohas recently had a bit of a purple patch, painting several pieces in the space of a month or two. This is a large burner on the cycle path that runs along the river Avon between Sparke Evans Park and Temple Meads station.
Pl8o, River Avon, Bristol, October 2023
This large (larger than it looks), bold and humorous piece is a great example of Pl8o’s work, always well executed and fun to look at. The letters/number he uses are so easy on the eye, and here he has added an extra ‘o’ to create an excellent pair of eyes, a mechanism used by artists with ‘oo’ letters to great effect, such as Boogie and Scooj (hah!). Over the years, Pl8o’s contribution has not been insignificant as evidenced by this gallery of his work.
This is another wonderful piece from the RBF Halloween paint jam at Sparke Evans Park, and is by Bbygwya, probably better known as Flux, the letters (or variations of them) that she writes. This is a masterful composition, very pleasing on the eye, with each element of the piece excellently executed. If only my slightly misty images did the piece justice.
Bbygwya, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, October 2023
The letters spelling FLXE or FLuXE or as Paul H rightly points out LUXE are beautifully filled with an orange/red oily-bubbly effect, and the white 3D drop shadow is nicely worked into the piece. The character, looking like a masked villain out of a Scooby-Doo cartoon, is well painted and complements the letters perfectly. Bbygwya, along with her RBF friends, has used the ‘house colours’ for the piece. I would love to have a picture with the whole collaboration, but alas there are large trees in front of the wall, and it is virtually impossible to get the whole stretch in one head-on view.
This wall is a little out of the way and not favoured by many artists in Bristol. It is however a favourite for the Bristol Mural Collective to host occasional paint jams, so I was a little surprised to find a couple of Werm pieces on this stretch, which may have been there for some time, as I don’t visit the spot all that often.
Werm, The Paintworks, Bristol, October 2023
This striking piece by Werm exploits the contrasting nature of Pink and Black, a combination used to great effect by Lee Roy and Waste in Brunel Way a little while back. Judging from the letter shapes, I would say that this piece is relatively recent, and it is dated 2023. I think I prefer his work when it is slightly less busy and cluttered, so I am enjoying this new direction.
Lupa and Desi, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, October 2023
It is not so long since Halloween, and this year I seem to have quite a lot of festive pieces to share, and not at the end of November or December. The reason for these more timely posts is that the artists were out a little earlier this year with many painting their Halloween pieces in mid-October. This pair of pieces by Lupa and Desi were painted as part of a large gathering of the RBF crew who were joined on the day by a Birmingham all-female crew called FKB (Full Kulla Burners).
Lupa, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, October 2023
On the left of this pair is a great piece from Lupa, whose carefree approach makes for easy viewing. With her work, I always get the feeling that she is relaxed, and painting within her limits for the sheer joy of it, and I really like that about her work. As usual, Lupa has had a bit of fun with the ‘U’ in her name and has presented her letters in her customary style while adopting the paint jam colours of the day.
Desi, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, October 2023
To the right, Desi has painted a lovely VEIL piece which seems to be her preference these days – I haven’t seen a DESI for a while. I particularly like the screaming ghost face in the second heart. Great letters and some interesting fills. It is weird that the gold colour has picked out the markings on the wall, almost looking like Desi has painted the markings deliberately, a mechanism that many artists use to give the impression they are painting on a wall instead of on a flat surface. Great work from these two.
Mena, Bnie and Wispa, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, October 2023
More from the RBF Halloween paint jam, from a week or two back, this time featuring Mena, Bnie and Wispa, in what was a fabulous turnout from the ladies and which seemed to bring the best out of each and every one of them.
Mena, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, October 2023
To the left is a beautiful script piece by Mena, who I haven’t seen much of in recent months, so this was a genuine treat. This piece is simple yet stylish and beautifully executed and I think she is at her best when she paints these thin script letters. I fear that I have a great many unpublished pieces by Mena, and must spend a little time going through my archives and unearth them.
Bnie, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, October 2023
There is little more that I can say about Bnie that I haven’t said many times before. I consider this to be an outstanding piece of graffiti writing. Brilliant letter shapes, superb rich fill and all beautifully finished. I rather like the addition of the orange spherical things, as a nod to Halloween, but I think the lettering is so strong that even if they hadn’t been included, this would have stood out.
Wispa, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, October 2023
The energy that Wispa brings to her work is exceptional, not only in its presentation, but also in her incredible and seemingly inexhaustible journeying around the country to paint. The letters, spelling WISPA, are dazzling, being so full of energetic fill patterns and colours. It all looks very complicated, but I expect in her head it is all rather straightforward and obvious. The ghost character which looks like Caspar the Friendly Ghost, is the perfect foil to the busy writing. What an absolutely excellent trio of Halloween pieces.
Werm and Daz Cat, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2023
Oooh. This is a lovely collaboration by Werm and Daz Cat in one of my favourite spots, the curved wall at Dean Lane. The writing/character combination utilises the slightly awkward space on the wall really well. It feels like a while since a good piece appeared here. Back in the day this wall was a bit of a premium wall, but recently it has been occupied by rather too many throw ups and frankly a lot of rubbish, so it was refreshing to come across this piece.
Werm, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2023
To the left on the lower bit of wall, Werm continues with his transition towards a different presentation of his letters which have been nicely thought out, offering a little bit of bilateral symmetry. With Werm, I feel like he experiments and then settles on a particular form before transitioning to the next until he feels he needs to change. A stop-start method that seems to work for him. Some other artists won’t change at all, while others make subtle or wholesale changes with each new piece they paint. This is the joy of the vast spectrum of artists in Bristol.
Daz Cat, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2023
For me the star of the show is the Daz Cat cat and friends toasting marshmallows. I love these storytelling pieces by Daz Cat, he seems to capture something really special that you need to look at, interpret and enjoy. Quite what creatures the companions are I am not sure, but one looks most contented, the other a little concerned. The main character has an air of compassion and love. A brilliant piece, and it is always good to see Daz Cat painting these expansive scenes.
Because he tends to paint most of his work in L Dub, Donz is a little bit underrepresented on Natural Adventures, which is a pity really, because he has a distinctive style and slightly different take on things. He is far from unconventional in his work, but he does things his own way, if that makes any sense at all.
Donz, L Dub, Bristol, August 2023
The letters spell DONZ, although the ‘O’ is much reduced and resembles an eye, giving the writing a bit of character, a little bit like Decay’s Chuck (check out this Decay gallery to see what I mean).The colours in the letters are bright and rather striking, and whilst not naturally complementary, seem to be incredibly effective in this piece. I will try to photograph and post more Donz pieces if I can.
Pekoe, Vozie, Bnie, Wispa and Evey, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
The Resting Bitchface (RBF) crew appeared to have a ball at the Cheltenham Paint Festival, painting this long collaborative wall, and then going on to decorate the multi-storey car park, which was opened up as a CPF venue for the first time this year. The dayglo colours of the piece give is a bit of a 1980s look, but with a contemporary RBF twist.
Pekoe, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
On the left and starting off the collaboration is a writing/portrait combination from Pekoe. This is as good a piece of writing I have seen from Pekoe and the character to the right is something a little different, a punk or skinhead girl with a plaster on her head. Vibrant stuff.
Vozie, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
Next up is a classy piece of writing from Vozie, spelling out her name and breaking up different sections of the letters with different colours from the paint jam colour palette. The overall design is top class and the execution brilliant. Amazing stuff.
Bnie and Wispa, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
The next section has Bnie and Wispa snuggly side by side. Bnie’s writing picks up on the colour palette, but designs in the colours in a completely different way to Vozie. Bnie has gone for some horizontal layers, and a horizon line running through the midpoint of her BNIE. Finished to perfection, this too is an outstanding piece. Wispa has gone for a character piece overflowing with attitude. She has also decided not to go with the ‘corporate ‘colours and the impact of that is her character stands out as being a bit different. I get a feeling that the attitude isn’t constrained to Wispa, but runs through the whole collaboration in its loud colours and boldness.
Evey, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
Finally, the right hand end of the collaboration is represented by a fabulous piece of writing from Evey. In recent posts I have spoken about her rate of improvement this year, and this piece only goes to reinforce my view. Great letter shapes and delightfully eclectic fills that somehow work incredibly well together. This collaboration has all the hallmarks of a very successful and enjoyable day out for the RBF Crew. Outstanding.
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